Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to note that I will be sharing my time with the member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound and the member from Oakville, in that order.

It is my honour to rise on behalf of our entire government and speak to our Plan to Build Act. This legislation underpins our Ontario 2022 budget, which is titled Ontario’s Plan to Build. Our government’s budget was first released in April of this year, and I’m thrilled for the opportunity to speak to how we are getting to work for Ontario workers and for Ontario families.

It’s a budget for rebuilding Ontario’s economy; a budget for keeping costs down for Ontario families and putting more money back into the pockets of their families; a budget that is working for Ontario workers; a budget for building highways, for building transit and building key infrastructure across our province; and a budget with a plan to keep Ontario open, today and in the future.

Ce budget vise à reconstruire l’économie de l’Ontario. C’est un budget qui contribuera à garder les coûts bas pour les familles de l’Ontario et à mettre de l’argent dans la poche des contribuables; un budget qui oeuvre pour les travailleurs; un budget qui permettra de construire des autoroutes, des réseaux de transport en commun et des infrastructures essentielles, à l’échelle de notre province; et un budget qui permettra de garder l’Ontario ouvert, aujourd’hui et pour l’avenir.

I will provide an overview of the focus areas of our budget and will touch on some of the highlights of the Plan to Build Act, which supports this plan.

The first pillar of our plan is rebuilding Ontario’s economy. Ontario’s manufacturing sector is key to the economic success of our province. However, by 2018, the province’s manufacturing employment had decreased by about a third since its peak in 2004.

Our government has a plan to make Ontario the workshop of Canada once again, and that plan applies to the whole province. It applies to building prosperity for everyone, in every corner of the province. Our plan to rebuild Ontario’s economy will build prosperity in the north. It will include seizing Ontario’s critical minerals opportunities and those opportunities therein.

It is time to do more to tap into the enormous resource potential across this province, starting with the Ring of Fire. Canada is the only country in the western hemisphere with all of the raw materials required for a lithium-ion battery. With northern Ontario already being a key global producer and processor of minerals, such as nickel, copper and cobalt, and home to various promising, advanced-stage lithium and graphite mining and mineral processing projects, the Ring of Fire has the potential to bring multi-generational prosperity to northern and First Nation communities while supporting a homegrown supply chain for battery technology, electronics and electric and hybrid vehicles.

In an era of geopolitical instability, seizing our critical mineral opportunity and developing the Ring of Fire is a strategic necessity for Canada. Critical minerals will protect and be part of a clean, environmentally friendly future for Ontarians and for Canadians. It will be part of a future of clean steel, with batteries, hybrid and electric vehicles as the next generation of automobiles built in Ontario by Ontario workers and sold right across North America.The government’s plan includes close to $1 billion for critical legacy infrastructure, such as all-season roads to the Ring of Fire, building the corridor to prosperity. These roads will help bring critical minerals to the manufacturing hubs in the south, which will bring prosperity to Ontario’s north and help improve access to health care, goods and services, education, housing and economic opportunities for First Nation communities.

The plan is supported by a Critical Minerals Strategy, with $2 million in 2022-23 and $3 million in 2023-24 to create a Critical Minerals Innovation Fund.

Mr. Speaker, the plan is also helping to create good manufacturing jobs right here in Ontario, as Ontario becomes a North American leader in building the vehicles of the future.

Over the last two years, Ontario has attracted almost $16 billion—yes, that’s correct—in transformative automotive investments by global automakers and suppliers of electric vehicle batteries and battery materials. This includes more than $12.5 billion in electric vehicle and electric vehicle battery-related manufacturing investments.

Our government has partnered with the federal government, municipal governments and forward-thinking partners in key sectors and the auto supply chain, including Honda Canada’s nearly $1.4-billion investment to upgrade and retool its Alliston plants so workers there can build the next generation of hybrid vehicle models—right here in Ontario, made by Ontario workers, and sold right across North America. That is great news for the 4,200 people who work for Honda Canada’s operation in Ontario.

There is also a more than $2-billion investment by General Motors to pave the way for GM’s first-ever vehicle production line in Ontario at Ingersoll, while supporting continued vehicle production in Oshawa and Durham region—an investment, by the way, that will support 2,600 jobs in Oshawa.

We’ve also seen the largest greenfield investment in over a decade. That’s an over $5-billion investment by LG Energy Solution and Stellantis to build Ontario’s first-ever large-scale electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant—an investment that will create 2,500 new jobs in the Windsor area.

And, Mr. Speaker, there’s more. Umicore plans to make an $1.5-billion investment to build a first-of-its-kind industrial-scale cathode and precursor materials manufacturing plant in eastern Ontario. At full production, the plant will produce annual cathode material volumes sufficient to manufacture batteries for one million battery-electric vehicles—almost 20% of all North American EV production at the end of the decade here in Ontario. So it’s the north, it’s the southeast, it’s the east, it’s the GTA—manufacturing is coming back to Ontario.

Ontario is also supporting investments to help make the province a world-leading producer of clean, low-emission steel to help build automobiles in the province.

But this is not all. Through the Plan to Build Act, we are also proposing an enhancement to the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit. This tax credit was introduced in March 2020 to help lower costs for businesses seeking to expand in areas of the province where employment growth had been slower than the provincial average. The tax credit supports corporations that build, renovate or purchase eligible commercial or industrial buildings in qualifying areas of Ontario. It provides an incentive to bring jobs and growth to these communities. In the 2021 budget, we temporarily doubled the tax credit rate from 10% to 20% until the end of 2022 to provide additional support to businesses in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This enhancement increased the available tax credit support for regional investment from a maximum of $45,000 to a maximum of $90,000 in a year. Through the legislation we are discussing today, our government is proposing to extend the temporary enhancement to the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit to the end of 2023. This would give businesses more time to make use of the enhanced support, more time to invest in Ontario’s opportunities, more time to encourage a robust economic recovery.

En vertu de la loi dont nous parlons aujourd’hui, notre gouvernement propose donc de prolonger la bonification temporaire du crédit d’impôt à l’investissement régional jusqu’à la fin de 2023. Les entreprises auraient ainsi plus de temps pour se prévaloir du soutien bonifié, plus de temps pour investir dans les collectivités de l’Ontario et plus de temps pour favoriser une reprise économique robuste.

By extending the time-limited enhancement to the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit until the end of 2023, Ontario would be investing an additional $40 million, resulting in an estimated tax credit support of over $280 million from 2020-21 to 2024-25. This is real support to encourage growth in regions that need it the most.

In addition to this measure, another way the Plan to Build Act is supporting stronger local economies is by working to bring jobs to provincial agencies in communities across Ontario. Centralizing government organizations in one place misses the opportunity that these jobs can bring to different communities. It’s simply not fair that only select communities should have access to these well-paying jobs.

That is why we are exploring the relocation of the headquarters of the WSIB to London, Ontario. The Plan to Build Act, which we are discussing today, would give the WSIB the flexibility to determine where its head office is located, and this legislation would remove a legacy provision that requires the WSIB’s head office to be in the city of Toronto.

The government will also explore the location for new agencies, including Supply Ontario, Invest Ontario and Intellectual Property Ontario, to help ensure opportunities so all the people and all the communities of Ontario can benefit. Through this initiative, the provincial government can reduce costly third-party leases, make better use of its buildings and unlock the economic potential of smaller communities to help grow regional opportunities.

To bring jobs and prosperity to every region of Ontario, every person must have access to good-quality, high-speed Internet access. It’s an absolute necessity for doing businesses. So our plan includes nearly $4 billion to support high-speed Internet access to every community in Ontario by the end of 2025.

Of course, this plan builds on many of the actions our government has taken to date. For example, we introduced an accelerated capital cost allowance to help businesses invest in new investment and equipment. We reduced industrial electricity costs, on average, by between 15 and 17%. And we cut hundreds of millions of dollars in red tape.

So, Mr. Speaker, as you can see, Ontario’s Plan to Build includes concrete actions and investments to help create jobs and build prosperity everywhere for everyone in Ontario.

I will now discuss the next pillar of our plan, which is keeping costs down for Ontario families. The same day that our government re-tabled the Plan to Build Act, we also released the 2022-23 first quarter finances, which provides updated information about the evolution of Ontario’s economic and fiscal outlook since the 2022 budget, and as of June 30, 2022.

The numbers reflect a reality that people and businesses are feeling in their day-to-day lives, and that is, the effects of inflation are being felt in a real way, whether at the grocery store, at the pumps, or when purchasing goods or services to keep one’s businesses running. While this economic trend is global in nature, our government is stepping up to do our part to help Ontario families with the cost of living. We’re bringing forward actions to help people across Ontario keep a few extra dollars in their pockets right now so they can continue to pay the rent, to pay the bills, to pay for gas, and to pay for groceries, regardless of the curveballs the global economy throws our way.

Mr. Speaker, the Plan to Build Act proposes amendments that would provide relief to families and to workers, especially minimum wage workers and low-income families who are especially feeling the impacts of rising costs for groceries and other essentials.

Beginning with the 2022 tax year, our government is proposing to enhance the low-income individuals and families tax credit, also known as the LIFT credit, to increase and expand this benefit to provide $320 million in additional tax relief to most workers. The proposed enhancement to the LIFT credit would mean about 700,000 more people in Ontario would benefit from this tax credit in this tax year. Also, with the general minimum wage rising to $15.50 per hour, as of October 1, 2022, this would help ensure eligible minimum wage workers continue to receive additional tax relief.

So how does this tax credit work? The LIFT credit is a non-refundable tax credit that, since it was first introduced in 2018, has provided up to $850 in Ontario personal income tax relief each year to lower-income workers. Under the current LIFT credit, the benefit is phased out at a rate of 10% for individual income above $30,000 and family income above $60,000. Combined with other tax relief, the introduction of the LIFT credit means that about 90% of all Ontario tax filers with taxable income below $30,000 pay no personal income tax. Let me repeat that: 90% of all Ontario tax filers with taxable income below $30,000 pay no personal income tax. Mr. Speaker, our Plan to Build Act proposes amendments to enhance this credit so it can provide even greater benefits to the people of Ontario. So under our proposed enhancement, the maximum benefit would increase from $850 to $875, helping to put more money in people’s pockets. On top of that, we’re also proposing to raise the income thresholds and lower the phase-out rate from 10% to 5%, increasing and expanding the income ranges over which the benefit is reduced. So what does this mean for the people of Ontario? It means that, with the proposed enhancement, 1.1 million lower-income workers would see an additional $300, on average, in tax relief this year, in 2022, bringing the total number of beneficiaries in Ontario to 1.7 million taxpayers. That’s real relief. That’s relief to make life more affordable for people in Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, our plan for keeping costs down also includes cutting fees. We’re making it less expensive to drive by eliminating and refunding licence plate stickers, so that for each passenger vehicle, light-duty truck, motorcycle and moped, they get relief. This on its own will save Ontario drivers $120 a year per vehicle in southern Ontario, and $60 a year per vehicle in the north. On top of these savings, our government is also helping people who are feeling the pinch at the gas pump. As of July 1, we have cut the gas tax by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel tax by 5.3 cents a litre for six months. Together, these measures—eliminating and refunding licence plate renewal fees and cutting the gas and fuel tax—will help households save about $465 on average this year in 2022.

I note the member from Durham is here. We have also removed the tolls on Highways 412 and 418. This especially helps people in the Durham region and benefits every single person who uses these highways.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind members of two new initiatives our government recently announced to keep costs down in Ontario.

First, we announced an increase for Ontario Disability Support Program payments, to bring much-needed support to help offset rising living costs for these families and individuals. And we announced that future Ontario Disability Support Program—ODSP—payments would be adjusted for inflation, to help support these recipients moving forward. This comes in addition to measures we’re discussing today to keep costs down, as well as other initiatives such as the Ontario Community Support Program, and providing an additional $307 million to help municipalities, and Indigenous communities and their partners, deliver critical services that create longer-term housing solutions and keep people safe.

Additionally, beginning in September, the government will increase the maximum monthly payment by 5% for the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities Program. We also announced an additional investment on top of our government’s previously announced tutoring support program to provide direct education supports for students. Our government has committed an additional investment of $225 million on top of the previously announced tutoring support program, bringing the total investment in tutoring supports to over $400 million over three years. These additional funds will support a program that provides parents with greater flexibility over how to support a child’s specific needs.

Mr. Speaker, the next part of our plan I will cover is highways and infrastructure. As Ontario’s population grows, it puts unprecedented pressure on roads, highways, transit and other infrastructure, so our plan includes building roads, highways and transit for Ontario’s needs, getting shovels in the ground and getting to work for the people and the businesses of Ontario.

At the heart of our plan is a capital investment of $158 billion over the next 10 years, with planned investments of over $20 billion in this fiscal year, 2022-23, alone. Our plan includes trains, it includes subways, and it includes highways—because you cannot fight gridlock without building highways. That is why we are investing more than $25 billion over 10 years for highway expansion and rehabilitation projects right across this province, including projects such as Highway 413. Highway 413 will save drivers up to 30 minutes on their commute.

Our commitment also extends to the Bradford Bypass, a new four-lane freeway connecting Highway 400 in Simcoe county and Highway 404 in York region. That’s an area of the province expected to experience rapid growth over the next 20 years. The Bradford Bypass will take pressure off of Highway 400 and existing local roads in York and in Simcoe, giving drivers in the region relief from endless gridlock and saving them up to 35 minutes each trip.

In addition to building highways, our capital plan will invest over $61 billion over the next 10 years to fuel a huge expansion in new subways, GO rail and other vital infrastructure. In the north, we are investing $75 million to help bring passenger rail service back to northeastern Ontario.

Interjections.

I will, and my remarks will be short and brief.

Simply, this legislation is the reintroduction of our plan that we presented earlier this year. This is a bill to keep cost down for the people of Ontario; to invest in hospitals, our health care workforce and home care; and to continue to build subways, highways, housing and key infrastructure.